Ice Ice Baby

You’ve probably heard me say that hate is a pretty strong word and I try to refrain from using it except for those times when I really mean it. So when I say I hate being cold, I mean, I HATE it. I hate sweaters and snow and ice storms and static electricity when you touch someone and dry skin and being inside and high gas bills and having to wear actual shoes. The winter months are just awful for me. I will say that we in South Carolina have completely lucked out this winter though, and I have complained very little. A snow big enough to ice the road from home to work would’ve been nice for a couple days, but I really am ok with not seeing a single snowflake. I’ve been unreasonably cold twice in my life. One was when I went surfing in Ireland in 2010. The temperature outside the water was in the 40’s, but I put on an already wet wetsuit and jumped into the stretch of Atlantic Ocean where the Titanic sank only to get out about 30 minutes later with mild hypothermia. I didn’t realize what it was until one of the surfing guys told me afterwards and I thought “oh. that’s why I couldn’t feel any part of my body.” Another time was when I went backpacking last March. We whitewater rafted 10 miles in the rain to start off our trip, and I never warmed up over the next 2 days. Even at night when Brittany Brock and I were literally in the same sleeping bag. During both of these experiences, I legitimately thought my organs were going to freeze. So after learning these lessons, I STILL thought it would be cool to run into Lake Wylie this weekend for the Special Olympics Polar Plunge. The high temperature was a warm (for February) 53 degrees, which really was a miracle, because it could’ve been a lot worse. There were TONS of people there plunging, and we raised $12, 524. Thanks to my scuba diver costume, I fell in, which gave me a bloody knee and water up to my chest. Neither of those things felt good. But it was awesome. It was so encouraging to see the amount of people that were there to risk the cold and quite possibly their health, for a great cause. And a BIG thank you to everyone who donated so that I could plunge! If you were disappointed that I didn’t go all the way in, you should see my knee. It was definitely sacrificial.